Government slammed for lack of select committee

SUPPORTERS OF London's proposed £10bn Crossrail tunnel last month warned the government that its failure to set up a select committee to deal with objections to the scheme will cause costs to rise.

The deadline for objections passed on 16 September, but the select committee has yet to be created.

All objections must be dealt with by the committee before the legislation can be sent to the Bill Committee and then to the House of Lords.

'It is worrying that there is still no select committee, ' said Alex Hilton, director of Crossrail lobby group Campaign for Crossrail. 'The construction industry knows that in' ation is a key issue, and for every quarter that the project is delayed, costs will rise.' Transport secretary Alistair Darling told MPs that political parties were still choosing members to sit on the panel. A Department for Transport spokesman said it was dealing with complaints in the meantime.

'We are actively looking at these objections and tackling them where we can, ' he said.

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